Boat-launching apparatus



May 19, 1925. G. WRIGHT 1,538,539

BOAT LAUNCHING APPARATUS Filed Octg 20, 1922 Patented May 19, 1925.

GEGRGE WRIGHT, 0F OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA.

BOAT-LAUNCHNG APPARATUS.

Application filed October 2G, 1922. Serial No. 595,766.

To all 10710712. t may concern.'

Be it known that I, Gnonen lVnTcnr, a`

citizen ot the United States, and a resident ot Oakland, in the county of Alameda and State ot California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Boat- Launching Apparatus, of which the 'following is a specitication.

This invention appertains to an improvement in devices or gears ior effecting the release ot life boats and the like from the usual hoisting and lowering falls of the launching apparatus or davits ot vessels `at sea. y

Among the principal objects which` the present invention has in View, is: To provide for a comparatively simple, durable and etlicient device or gear as hereinbevtore characterized and which is capable of being` readily and easilyv installed in new and old boats with equal facility; ,to provide for a novel means :tor etiecting the positive and instant release et the engaged endsot the hoisting and lowering falls from the attaching memn bers or hooksot the device or gear for the launching of a boat.- either be'tfore or after the latter is actually waterborne ;l and to provide other means for ,controlling the attaching members or hooks of the device or gear during the engagement therewith oit the ends of the hoisting andlowering falls when -it is desired or necessary to hoist a life boat into normal positiony on board a vessel.

`lilith the foregoing and other equally important objects in view, the invention vresides in the certain new and useful construction, arrangement and operation of parts as will be hereinafter more fully described, set- Jorth in the appended claims, and illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which Figure l is a vertical longitudinal section through a conventional form ot lite boat or the like, and shows a preterredembodinient ot the invention as installed therein and in its operative position `for j suspending the boat from the attached ends of the hoisting and lowering` falls ot the laun'chingapparatus or davits of a vessel, j y

Figure 2 is an enlarged `fragmentary vertical section of one end ot a boat, showing the complemented end portion oil the device or gear after thesame has been actuated to releasedv position, the deviceor gear portion being partly in section, and,

Figure 3 is a vertical transverse section taken on the line 3 3' oi Figure l.

Referring to the drawing, the numeral l0 indicates an `operating' shaft, journalled in bearings ll spaced apart on the longitudinal center ot' the inner-side ot the bottom wall oit the hull of the boat a, and which is to have rocking movements imparted thereto by means ot a hand lever l2. This shai't l0 may be made from solid metal stock, orof tubular metal stock to decrease the weight thereof without appreciably decreasing the durabilityY and strength, and the hand lever 12 which may also be made .trom either solid or tul'mlar,metal7 is secured in rightangular relation theretoat desired point on the same by means oi a union or the like 13.

The opposite ends otitheshat't 10 are arranged to project slightly beyond the outer ot the bearings l1 and spaced trom the adjacent ends of the boat hull a, and are each connected, by means olf a universal joint or coupling il to the lower end of a tubular member or shatt section l5.

cross-portions or bearingslG, and are slotted, as at l5', tor purposes to be hereinafter vmore fully explained.

Each of `the bracket membersconsists ot The tubular vmembers or shaft sections 15 inclineupward and outwardly trom their points olf connec* a metal casting or the like formed tot provide spaced sidewalls 17, connected together at their loweredges by the crossportions 16, and at theirout-er vertical edges by a connecting wall 18 which is arranged to abut the inner *side wall ot the boat hull and to be secured thereto by means ot bolts or the like i9. The upper ends ot the inner side edges of the bracket walls 17 are to provide upwardly extended reduced vportions 2O (Figure 2), whichare arranged to project above the plane ot the gunwale of the boat, when the brackets are secured in proper position substantially as shown'.

while the cross-portions 16. connect the walls 17 at their lower edges, as hereinbetore,nientioned, and only at their inner half portions so as to leave spaces between the saine and the inner sides of the connecting walls 18 whereby to facilitate the bolting ot' the brackets in position.

Mounted between the reduced port-ions 20, ot the side walls 17 ot' each of the brackets, is an attaching member or hook 21, which is or substantially L-shaped configuration and has one leg portion engaged adjacent its free end on a pivot pin 22 carried by the portions 20, with its` other leg portion :of a form to provide a reduced free end, as by being tapered after the manner shown in Figure 2, for passage through the slotted opening 15 in the upper vprojected end of the tubular member or shaft section 15 and into engagement with the bore of the latter, vwhen the hook member 21 is swung to its operative position inwardly of the boat and between the side walls 1,7 oi' the brackets. ln the iiioperative or released positions of the attaching members or hooks 21, kthe leg portions 'of the saine. which are engaged on the pivots 22, rest on the' gunwale 'of the. boat hull a, while the tapered leg portions ther' of project in an upward direction from the latter for the easy engagement thereover of the looped ends b of the hoisting and lowering falls c. l y

In the operation of the device or gear, and with the attaching' members or lrooks 21 disposed in their inoperative or released positions as here-inbet'ore explained, the looped ends Z) of the cables or ropes, forming the hoisting and lowering falls or the launching apparatus or davits or ya vessel, will be engaged over the tapered leg 'port-ions there'- of, when the members Tor hooks 21 will be swung inwardly and downwardly on their pivots 22 land into their operative positions between the side walls 1T ot' the brackets. The `tree ends of ItheV tapered leg portions of the members-or hooks 21 will `now be engaged in the bores of the tubular members or shaft sections 15, entering the same through the slotted openings 15" at the completion ol their downwardly.swinging movementsv to fully operative positions, when the hooks or 'men'ib'ers will he locked against any `and all `accident-al releasing movements by a turi'iing movement bleing imparted to the tubular from the operating shaft 10, which will be 'rocked in 4a desired v'direction tor the purpose by the hand lever 12; This turning .movement ot the tubular ineinbers or shaft sections 15 results in the displacing of the slotted openings 15 tl'icre'ot to one side or the other or the path 'of swinging move-r mei'nbers or yshaft sections 15 shaft 10 and consequently to vthe tubular members or hollow shaft sections 15, whereby the slotted openings 15 will be moved into the path of movement of the attachii'ig members vor hooks 21, with the result tli'at the tapered portions or the latter will be free to disengage therefrom to released position. It the boat-.be not fully waterborne lat the moment oi' release of the attaching members or hooks 21, the weight of the same Vwill cause the positive 4andinstantaneous disengagement of the members or hooks which will swing upwardly on their pivots22 to fully opened position and allow the looped ends ot' `the falls to free themselves autom'aticz'illy. However, should the boat be fully waterborne rat the moment 'or release 'of vthe attaching members vor hooks 21 so that there is an appreciable amount of slack in the falls, then the looped ends t ot' the latter will 'ai'itoi'natically free themselves with the' dritt or" the boat, or the same may be readily disengaged by an upward pull tl'iereon by nearby persons. In 'actual practice, however, this manual freeing or' the looped ends o of the falls will seldom, if ever, 'be found to be necessary.

To facilitate the 'attaching of the looped 'ends b of the falls o to the hooks 21, the invention contemplates the provision 'of hand levers 28, one 'cooperative with leach of the hooks, 4whereby the same are moved to positions to hold the latter agaii'ist openor 'releasing movements during the manipulation of the hand lever 12 for the rocking of the shafts 10' and 15 to 'effect the .locking ot' the tapered leg portions o1 the hooks 21 in the b'ores of the -shaft sections 15, 'as hereinbefore described.v Each of these hand levers 23 is formed to provide a forked portion 23 arranged in str-addling relation with respect to the side walls 17 of a bracket and is pivoted for the necessary vertical swinging movement on a pivot pin 24 passed 'through the latter. In use, after the looped ends b of the falls c are yengaged over the members or hooks 21, the latter are swung downwardly between the side walls 17 'of the brackets until the free ends of the tapered leg portions thereof are engaged within the bores 15 of 'the hollow shaft 'sections 15,`whenthe hand levers 23 are swung'y upwardly until the connected portions 23, of the forked `portions 23 bind against the up er connected ends of the tapered leg potions of the members or hooks 21, in which position the parts remain until after the attendant of the boat has manipulated the hand lever 12 for t-he turning of the shafts 1()` and 15 to move the slotted openings 15 of the hollow shafts 15 out of the path of movement of the tapered ends of the members or hooks 21. The hand levers 23 are then lowered from their engagement with the members or hooks 2l, when the latter will be free for releasing movement upon the manipulation of the hand lever 12 for a reversed rocking of the shafts 10 and 15. This provision of the hand levers 23 readily provides for the entire operation of the device or gear by a single attendant as is often necessary on vessels with a limited number of men for the handling of the life boats carried thereby.

From the foregoing, it will be obvious that, while a preferred embodiment of the invention has been described and illustrated herein in specific terms and details of the construction, arrangement and operation of the parts thereof, various changes in andA modifications of the samev may be resorted to without departing from the scope of the claim appended hereto.

Having thus fully described the invention, what is claimed, is

In a launching gear for life boats and the like, forked brackets adapted to be mounted at the inner sides of the opposite ends of a boat, hook members pivotally mounted in said brackets and capable of opening and closing movements for the attaching thereto and the disengagement therefrom of the looped ends of the usual hoisting and lowering falls of a vessel, an operating shaft joury nailed longitudinally of the boat, tubular shaft sections coupled to the opposite ends of said operating shaft and having their upper end portions journalled in the lower ends of said brackets, the upper ends of said tubular shaftfsections having `slots opening into the bores thereof for the passage therethrough and engagement in the latter of the free ends of said hook members after the looped ends of the said falls have been engaged therewith, means for actuating said operating shaft for imparting turning movements to said tubular shaft sections where-- by to effect the locking of the free ends of said hook members in position by the displacing of the said slots to one side of the path of swinging movement of the latter andthe release of the free ends of the same for swinging movement to open position for the disengagement therefrom of the attached ends of the said falls by returning the said slots to proper position for the purpose, and

forked hand levers pivotally straddling the forked arms of the brackets `for temporary engagement over said hook members to retain same in closed position during the movement of said tubular shaft sections to locking position.` i

enonenwnrenr 

